Feather drying system



N0V 13, 1951 A. M. SCHROEDER' FEATHER DRYING SYSTEM 2 SHEETS-SHEET lFiled May 18, 1946 IN V EN TOR.

@w/uff M 56% woede?" Nov. 13, 1951 A. M. SCHROEDER FEATHER DRYING SYSTEM2 SHEETS---SHEET 2 Filed May 18, 1946 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED "STATES PAT-ENT .OFFICEFEATHERDRYINGSYSTEM .Y Arthur Schroeder, ..Chcago,.1ll.

lApplicationMay18, 1946, 'Serial-No. 4'670,6'61

i :Claims This invention relates todriers andimorerspecicallytofeather-driers arrangedffor'continuous performance at high eiciencyoperation under substantially automatic performance l in :a system thatcan be Vreadily oon'trlledfor uniform fout- ;put of driedfeathers.

One cf themain objects of'ftliislinventionisfto provide an f arrangement'o'f-` connected :units-each lcontributingksuc'cessivelyto the cycle(if-'handling 'feathersifrom' a'wet state yto a-'perfectly dryi state,,and which arrangement of units Lsimultaneously permits continuousoperation vas long Aas Wet feathers are introduced for drying.

Feather drying Aequipment in the past "has generally utilizeddriers'havingforcedairblowers at the Ientry end-thereof to A ej ectthewet :feather and:airmixiintoitheinlet end' offthe'driers. This has'not been `satisfactory because Wet feathers or bunche'd groups `thereof'would be Ieffected -at times from the drier through the .direct-actionV6j. fthe blower"fanblades. Also, 'attimes during thepassage of feathersto the blower 'and into the .drying chamber, wet Jfeathers "would bebrought inballs Qrgroupsbythe air stream from Athejeed inlet, .andupn.contacting"the*Ian"blades of .the blower, suchgroupsrorballs wouldbe forced against .the sides .of the .drier by tangential orradialejectionfromthe"blowerffanblades This is. noisyiand valso .causes`deformations of the drier Walls .from Ithe Vim-pact.

Inaddition, `When the .bloweris housed `Within or forms a part -of theinlet end .of vthe L'dfier, feathers will `stick or A pack lto @the.Lian blades `vof the blower under certainconditions ofxoperation.Thisicreates an unbalanced relation'inducingan oi center load uwhich:sets .up vibration in ythe blower and .the entire `.drier 4-iinit YasVthe fan ro- .tates producing undesirable results that .are Ybvious.

V,The `:system .and units of Athe vpresent design have .been .soIconstructed and .arranged .as vto overcome the above obections and"limitations thereby providing advantages 'that are selfevident. :Thesystem iis mainly -operated under suction with certain pressure zonesfor definite purposes. The drying chamber'is acted uponby suction 'fromabove /to draw the .air and .feather mix outof. such chamber. 'Thebagfiller-"isalso subjected to suctionas an efficient attribute tocompletely 'filling .a "bag in :a relatively "short 'interval.

'.One pressure Lzone is established ahead 'of the heater :and feeder,:but 'such air streamwilllose some of its kinetic venergy 'at the timereaches the 'drier although itwill still blow `Wet feathers into thedrier to pile `up in 'the bottom thereof, While advancing -dried*feathers `up the :chamber tof-be drawn koiitiby *the yVacuum'at'the'top thereof as createdby 'itheisuctionisideiof -a blower.:Another pressure .fzone @created `dieyond the elast inamed blower vtoconvey `v`the `dried f'feathers .to

vza bag llerror "other storage fplace as the case t-may be.Pressurei'inzthe latter zone is dispersed Eby "novelimeans.substantially .automatic i in oper- 'ationlasfthebags areibeing filled.

.it iis xanother 'object l:of Ithis invention, Vtherezfore, to 'providesuch lautomatic pressure relief :means to allow loss 'of free Lair ffromfthe inlet side :ofthe filler and from Withina bag being filled 'ltoaccommodate `air dispersion which is normally reduced as 'a bag :'llswith lmore and rmore lfeathers 4until full.

Another object jof vthe .present invention is jto `provide 4a multiplebag filling chamber wherein the feathers are forced under rpressure intothe receiving bagsand'atthe'same time aloWer pressure or partial `vacuum'as explained above is maintained-aboutthebag being filled to greatlyminimize Vthe fiilling -time land to introduce 'a greater concentrationand weight Jof feathers into the bags in comparison with past practiceand experience. By reason ofthe multiple Vbag filling chamber, the bagsmay be changed providing continuous lling and replacement of bags.

There are other bjectsand advantagespresent in the'feather drier 'designrepresenting a preferred construction thereof which will hereinafteryappear in the follo'vving detailed description thereof 4:havingreference to v the 'accompanying drawings forming 4a part of 'thisspecification.

In the :drawings:

-Figf1 is affront elevationaliview of apreferred arrangement'ofconnected units diagrammatically illustrated 4and adapted to carry outthe-function of ;drying'feathers; and i Fig. "2 is a planview of 'thegeneral arrangement shown "in Fig. 1 .and diagrammatically i1-lustrating `further details of construction 'of the same'system which.contribute to thesuccess of the drier.

The `preferred .design of feather drier asportrayed .in .the drawingsbegins with a heater ,i adapted for v,heating vair supplied theretothrough asuitable inlet duct .2, such airybeing heated to a selectedtemperature best suited rfor the amount Vof .feathers .being dried. Fromexperience it `has ,been found .that 300 F. isa good temperatureat.which to discharge .air .through the outlet Lduct -B-of the theater land yinto .the feeder 4 through which the .Wet 4featbersareintroduced-intothesystemforsdrying.

The heater I may be heated in any manner feasible -for .supplyingheat to.the lcirculating air of the system. In-Fig. 2a steamcoil^5;isiused tojprovide `the ,necessary heat FGas, oil, @electricity or: anyotherAenergyproducing means .may be fused 1kto .supply heat to the isystem,:and con- Ventiona'l thermal responsive lmeans may beused to.hold.theexhaustrarin duelli-,3 at 300 :F.orat azpredetermined'rtemperaturethat may be ,desired and controlled through manual setting of theconventional thermal responsive means.

From the heater I, the air enters duct '6 which is arranged vforvertical discharge along an offset path by means of a bottom inlet duct1 leading into one side of the bottom of a vertically disposed featherdrying chamber 8 that is narrowi but relatively long to give thefeathers a turbulent and tumbling action. The feathers enterchamber 8with the heated air coming from the heater I when the feathers are fedinto the system through the feeder 4. In chamber 8 the wet and partiallywet feathers tend to drop or descend at various rates toward the bottomend portion 6a of the chamber 8 as in Fig. 2 and to- Ward the inlet duct1, while the. drier feathers tend to rise upwardly toward the outletduct 9 leading from the expansion chamber I forming the upper end of thechamber 8. Thus, wet and dry feathers or partially wet and partially dryfeathers pass each other or collide at different altitudes within thedrying `chamber 8, but in all cases the strictly dry feathers will riseand pass through the expansion chamber I0 and out through the outletduct 9 into the suction side of the hot air blower I I. The generalturbulence and intermingling of the feathers can be viewed througheither of the glass windows I2 and I3 on the side of the drying chamber8 by shining a light through the other glass window. The violence of theaction observed will permit adjustments to be made for reducing orincreasing such action by changing motor speeds or the drives to theblowers or by regulating ,the dampers of the system and moreparticularly the damper 51 in duct 54.

The action of the expansion chamber I0 is to provide a chamber having alarger transverse cross-sectional area than the transversecrosssectional area of the main chamber 8 to momentarily decrease theflow of air carrying mostly dry feathers to the outlet duct 9 therebygiving feathers that may still be wet or slightly damp which reach thispart of the drying chamber an opportunity to descend again a suicientamount to become completely dried and to be subsequently carriedupwardly and out of duct 9 to blower II.

From blower II the air and dried feather mix is discharged into duct I4to be conveyed to the bag ller I5. The air is now at about a temperatureof 200 F. which is approximately the temperature at which the feathersare forced, under pressure of the blower II, into the feather'receivingbags disposed in the ller I5.

To provide a filler capable of continuous reception of feathers andhaving bags disposed to always accommodate the feathers coming throughduct I4, the filler I5 has at least two compartments I6 and Il, eachhaving appropriate releasable bag holding means I8 and I 9,respectively', to receive bags such as 20 shown in operative featherreceiving position with the holding means I8 and in compartment I6. Eachcompartment I6 and I1 has corresponding doors 2| and 22 for loadingpurposes hinged to the filler I5, with suitable handles 23 and 24 placedin positions for the convenience of the operator of the filler I5.

The compartments I 6 and I7, and their respective bag holding means I8and I9 are served by a manifold 25 into which the duct I4 discharges theair feather mix. A damper 26 is located centrally of the manifold 25 andfunctions to divert the air feather mix to either of the fillercompartments depending upon its position. As shown in broken lines inFig. 1, the damper 26 is diverting the air feather mix into thecompartment I6 and into bag 20 there shown. By moving damper 26 into thedot and dash line position in Fig. 1the air feather mix would bediverted to a bag supported in compartment Il.

Damper 26 may be suitably operated by a chain, wire or `cord 2l passingover and secured to a pulley 28 carried by the damper shaft 29 as bestseen in Fig. 1. Convenient hand grip balls 30 and SI painted a strikingcolor or colors may be secured to the loose ends of the cord 21, and thelatter may be of such a length as to cause one of the balls to alwaysoccupy a position adjacent one of the door handles as a visual means toindicate to the operator which compartment of the filler i5 is inoperation. As seen in Fig. l, ball 38- is down next to the door handle23 to indicate that compartment I6 has a bag in receiving position anddamper 26 is automatically tilted to serve the bag 20 in compartment I6.

As bag 20 is being filled in compartment I6 with feathers under pressurefrom blower I I, a second blower 32 is employed for exhausting the airfrom the compartment I6 and from about the bag 20. Exhaust blower 32 isconnected with the compartments I6 and Il of ller I5 by means of acommon duct 33, through a manifold 34, and through the dual ducts 35 and36 as best illustrated in Fig. 2. Suitable screens 31 and 38 arevertically positioned within and rearwardly of the chambers I6 and I'Irespectively to prevent feathers, foreign materials or other matter fromentering the drying system through means of the suction created by theblower 32 in either of the ducts 35 or 36.

Manifold 25 provides a feather receiving chamber which generally coversthe top of the filler I5 and has a solid central top section I4a toreceive duct I4, and suitable screens I6a and Ila, as best shown in Fig.2, flank section I4@ and cover the upper ends of the manifold portionsabove the compartments I6 and I'I. The screens I6a and I'Ia are selectedaccording to conditions of operation and may be carried ininterchangeable frames. The screen sizes may also be varied to suitoperating conditions effected by the location of the drying systemsand/or the humidity variations at the site of installation.

Suction through either of the ducts 35 or 36 is controlled by a damper39 in manifold 34.

When damper 39 is in the broken line position in Fig. 2, suctionprevails in compartment I6, but if moved into the dot and dash lineposition, compartment I'I will be under suction. The action of damper 39is synchronized with the action of damper 26. This is done by extendingthe shaft 29 of damper 26 to drive a vertical shaft 40 through gears 4Iand 42 and by means of the drive being transmitted from shaft 40 througha belt 43 connected with a pulley 44 secured to the shaft 45 of damper39.

Each compartment I6 and I'I has air intake ducts 46 and 4l' with dampers48 and 49 controlling the inlet openings of each of the ductsrespectively. Deflecting baiiles 58 and 5I direct the cooler inlet airdownwardly into the compartments of the iiller I5. 'I'he inlet air thatenters either of the compartments will mix with the air forced andsucked through the feather bags 20 reducing the temperature in thecompartments to approximately F. In this manner, the air in thecompartments is cooled, dropping the pressure in such compartments toaid the exhaust blower in producing the pressure differential betweenthe interior and exterior of the 5i bags' 211;. theeair: coming in:through; duets'.V 4.5:rv and 4dr: a'lsoin replenishiiigtainlossefronuthee sys-temapressure' differential'f` is; alsof. establishedthrnugh.: ai differential .I speed operatiomor .by the selectionrof.capacity ratings-bfi thetwo; bldw= f LLL andan Blower |.l121,.drivembyrawmoter-521 delivers. approxmrately: 3R00? cubic feet of". airf perminute. in; installation; whilevthe' blower 32', driverr by a. motor6:33. exhausts. approximately 400D; cubic: feetrof ain pen minute..vTheselfigurfes aswell'. others:` than may: be2: statedf are exemplaizyldo. not rcpresentzany limitationseiny thel opeiationof the featherdrier: ofi-"thee design:- herei-nz. disclosed. Also.. while the;ldevice:` has been shown having two bag-.'iillinge-compartments; it iscontemplated: tuse. threce-or more such compartments with multipledamper controls to regulate the feather delivery andthe evacuation ofair: from each selected: bag;v filling, compartment.

Screens IBa and Ha function: -astameans for diverting free. air. from.withinthe. bags within the compartments ISand" ITduring the time thebags.are being filled. A bag such as 20 in compartmentl I5 willN allowmost! of' the air-carrying feathersthrough-duct--l-d-tcpassithroughftheibag fabricfandi to-be withdrawnby-tlieexhaust blower 32.. Very' little will-initially pass through themanifold screen` I6a-K. sir-icel the'featherl airmi-x wiIli'folloW-"thecou-rse ofleast'resis-tance. A's the bag: begins.: to fill-,- thefeatlrerswill gradually" fill tliebag closingthe fabric toair'passage--so that the. airL fromduet ldwill-- automatically bereleased through: screen Illa.: steadily increasing arrnmmts':y PartofVV the'V air' still go intoV the bag delivering feathers thereto andsuch air is drawn off through the suction of blower 32, depositing aconcentration of feathers within the big until such bag is completelyfilled.

Obviously some feathers will cling to the screen 16a because of thebypassed air bleeding therethrough, but the area and mesh of the screenis made large enough to permit the passage of free air to eflicientlycarry out the bag filling operation. Such feathers will drop oif of thescreen when the air is diverted to the other compartment. Any feathersleft on the screen will subsequently be drawn into an empty bag when theimmediate compartment is again set in operation.

To complete the cycle of operation of the system, exhaust blower 32withdraws air from the filler l5 or from the respective compartmentsthereof and forces such air through a duct 54 back to the intake duct 2of the heater l. This air will carry some moisture due to the lowertemperature of about 140 F. from the initial 300 F. in the dryingchamber 8 due to natural condensation so that a suitable vent means isinterposed in the last part of the cycle of operation of the dryingsystem to allow for diversion of some of the moisture and air prior toreentering the heater I.

This is accomplished by means of the vent duct 55 that connects withduct 54 between blower 32 and heater l and this vent duct may bearranged to discharge bypassed air and moisture through a wail orceiling of the building to atmosphere. A damper 56 is shown in Fig. lhaving suitable regulatory mechanism 51 for controlling the angularposition of the damper to regulate the amount of air and moisturediversion necessary to obtain the best results for continuing thefeather drying process described.

Duct 55 will also serve to permit air to reverse therethrough and enterthe drying system if the iii? 6) suction.. ofi airfl is: interruptedfrom thee filler;N to blowen' orv through. ai. blower breakdown as theecase manv be'.. It isi' possible. that oneof the screens: 37; or.l 358imay' become.- clogged with feathersrsasamay; occurY from. a-breakH inthe Yf abrio of'abag being filled;` Ehesuction of blower 32 'would tliendraw` the feathers out of: the bag and upagainst the vertical: screen..Screens 31." and were made large enough tozforestall any blockage. that:would cause serious interference with. he operation; of the.dryingsystem. Atany tlfieisystem may be kept' in operation long enough:to clear the feathers outl of the ducts and drieriff necessary, or to'switch'the filling .f operation to-aniother filler compartment-.untilthe condition causing;V air.' flow. retardation is found andi remedied:

Ghangesandmodificationsin the exact design, construction and.'Vcombination of units or parts asiwelli as substitution of: equivalentmechanisms are contemplated in the feather drying; system. Stich.deviations# inf the design of' this' invention shall-i be: governedlbythe scope ofthe appended claims :r directed.` thereto.

What@ If claimv is :l

1i. A: featherdfryingsystem comprising: a drying chamber; a heater;y afirst blower toforce air through said heater intensa-ide drying chamber;aafecd meansftd feedwetfeathers inte the hot streams ii-i-y ad-.vance ofsaid d'r-ying-f chamber; alsecond-'blowcr to draw dry feathers andhota-ir outfof saidf chamber, a-` bag filling compartment connectedfio-receive saidv airsfeather mix; means said co-iripart'rnentv forvreieasably supporting'V a bag in a position to catch the feathers fromsaid second blower, and a conduit connected between said fillingcompartment and said first blower to exhaust air from the space withinsaid compartment and surrounding said bag, said first blower having agreater volumetric capacity than said second blower to produce a lowerpressure in the filling compartment space surrounding the featherreceiving bag than in the interior of said bag.

2. A feather drying system comprising a drying chamber, a heater, afirst blower to force air through said heater into said drying chamber,a feed means to feed wet feathers into the hot air stream in advance ofsaid drying chamber, a second blower to draw dry feathers and hot airout of said chamber, a bag filling compartment connected to receive saidair feather mix, means in said compartment for releasably supporting abag in a position to catch the feathers from said second blower, and aconduit connected between said filling compartment and said first blowerto exhaust air from the space within said compartment and surroundingsaid bag, said first blower having a greater volumetric capacity thansaid second blower to produce a lower pressure in the fillingcompartment space surrounding the feather receiving bag than in theinterior of said bag, and an atmospheric bleed duct for said fillingcompartment to allow cool air to enter the space around said bagreducing the temperature of the air in said space and to supply freshair to said drying system, said bleed duct having adjustable controlmeans to regulate the amount of air entering said filling compartment.

3. A bag filling device for a feather drying system comprising at leasttwo bag filling compartments, a first blower to supply dried feathersand air under pressure to said compartments, a second blower to exhaustair from said compartments and from the space surrounding the bags insaid compartments, cooperative dual duct means leading from said firstblower to the compartments and from the latter to said second blower,and synchronized damper mechanisms for vsaid dual duct means connectedto alternately serve one or the other of said compartments whereby afull bag of feathersI may be withdrawn from either compartment andreplaced with an empty one.

4. A bag lling device for a feather drying system comprising at leasttwo bag lling compartments, a first blower to supply dried feathers andair under pressure to said compartments, a second blower to exhaust airfrom said compartments and from the space surrounding the bags in saidcompartments, cooperative dual duct means leading from said rst blowerto the compartments and from the latter to said second blower, andsynchronized damper mechanisms for said dual duct means connected toalternately serve one or the other of said compartments whereby a fullbag of feathers may be withdrawn from either compartment and replacedwith an empty one, said second blower having a greater volumetriccapacity than said rst blower to produce a lower pressure in either ofsaid compartments in the space surrounding the bag than within said bagduring the operation of a compartment.

5. A bag lling device for a feather drying system comprising at leasttwo bag filling compartments, a rst blower to supply dried feathers andair under pressure to said compartments, a second blower to exhaust airfrom said compartments and from the space surrounding the bags in saidcompartments, cooperative dual duct means leading from said rst blowerto the compartments and from the latter to said second blower, andsynchronized damper mechanisms for said dual duct means connected toalternately serve one or the other of said compartments whereby a fullbag of feathers may be withdrawn from either compartment and replacedwith an empty one, said' compartments having individual doors foringress thereto, and said synchronized damper mechanism having operatingmeans connected therewith to provide visual means each disposed at apredetermined position with respect to said individual doors to indicatewhich compartment is in operation.

ARTHUR M. SCHROEDER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the i'lle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Huttner et al Mar. 2.1948

